When friends come to visit- Chiang Mai, Thailand

And we’re off….Welcome to Thailand, the land of smiles. This portraits of the late King were everywhereWe stayed at the iRiver and it was fantastic.Pool view from out hotelFirst Thai food of the trip!

Walking to the night market as the sun set. This picture came is so helpful to show our tuk-tuk drivers where out hotel was.Night Market

This ice cream is so cool to watch being made. They pour milk on to a cold plate and mix it around. As they do it freezes.Tuk- tukFirst Tuk-tuk experience.One of my friends suggested we go the Muay Thai boxing. This is the only picture I took and it was before we went inside. I understand that the sport is a cultural thing, but I had a very hard time watching children as young as 8 years old fight with people betting on them. We didn’t stay long.There was a Lady Boy show going on across the street. There are a lot of transgender/drag women in Thailand.

Day Four: Elephant Nature Park

Our hotel had such a good breakfast. (Not all of this was mine)

Elephant Nature Park was my favorite part of the whole trip! They rescue elephants that are being used as work animals or being mistreated. Most of the elephants were old because in Thailand to “rescue” and elephants they actually have to buy it off the owners. Elephants come with ownership papers. The park wants to make sure they are not setting owners up with enough money to get new elephants so the buy old ones who (are mostly) hurt at a low price. The park also educated other elephant parks on kind ways to treat the animals. They whole day was amazing! If you want to learn more are this wonderful place click HERE!

First sight of the elephants.We’re ready to feed themSome of the elephants were picky and only wanted the watermelon.

Most of the elephants we saw were old and had been resuced. The ones we were allowed to get close to were very tame.

I’m standing so far from this one because she kept swinging that branch around. The flower in her ear was put there by her keeper. They said if she doesn’t like the flower she will purposefully get it muddy.

We were able to wash one of the elephants.

The next group of pictures are from when Sarah, Jen, and I went to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. on the way back from the Elephant Nature Park. We were dropped of at a bus stop and had to take a taxi up a mountain.

This is what a taxi in Chiang Mai looks likeInside the taxiRoad side snacks! I’m not sure why I look so unhappy.

My friend Sarah took this sneaky photo and I love it.

Road side stalls outside the templeCrickets and grubs anyone?I wasn’t aware this photo was being taken and it’s not the most flattering photo of me, but I really like how the traffic out the back of the taxi looks.

Day Five: More Temples

While the other girls took a Thai cooking class, Sarah, Jen and I took a day trip to Doi Inthanon National Park stopping off to see a waterfall and the highest point in Thailand.

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When we walked down from the water fall they were selling souvenir photos from what looked to be a hidden camera. It was kinda creepy.

We stopped off at a local village to see how they made textiles and bought some to take home. The women were lovely.

Look at how beautiful these fabrics areThere was a little market on the side of the road that we stopped at to buy dried food and nuts

Phra Maha Dhatu Naphamethinidon and Naphaphonphumisiri Pagoda. Pagodas for the King and Queen.Inside the Kinds pagodaHello windStanding at the top of the Queen’s pagoda looking at the KingsThe gardenQueen’s pagodaView from the top of the mountainSunset over the river from our hotel

When we got back from our tour we hung out at our hotel for a little while before heading the airport to catch a late flight to Phuket. I really enjoyed Chiang Mai. It has a much slower/calmer feel to it the HCMC.

Next blog post will be about Phuket and Kon Phi Phi Island…. stay tuned. 😉

BLOGGING IS NOT SOMETHING I’M NECESSARILY GOOD AT AND AUTOCORRECT AND I HAVE A LOVE/HATE RELATIONSHIP, SO PLEASE IGNORE ANY TYPOS, MISSPELLED WORDS, OR ALL TOGETHER WRONG WORDS. 😉